Two Sisters Among Three Killed in Highway Collision

Three people, including two sisters, were killed and three others seriously injured after a truck collided head-on with a CNG-powered auto-rickshaw on the Cox’s Bazar–Teknaf Highway in Bangladesh’s Ramu upazila. The fatal crash occurred on Monday afternoon in the School Pahar area of Khuniapalong Union, prompting an immediate rescue operation and a police investigation.

According to police and local witnesses, the accident took place at around 2:00 pm when the auto-rickshaw, carrying six people including the driver, was travelling towards Ukhiya. A truck approaching from the opposite direction crashed into the three-wheeler, leaving it badly damaged. All the casualties were passengers of the auto-rickshaw.

Local residents rushed to the scene moments after the collision and rescued the injured before transporting them to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital. One male passenger died at the scene, while two women later succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment. By Monday evening, authorities had not yet been able to establish the identity of the deceased male victim.

The two women who lost their lives were identified as Rubina Akter and her sister Shahina Akter, daughters of Zafar Alam from the Harinmara area of Ukhiya upazila. Family members said the sisters had travelled to the Cox’s Bazar court earlier in the day to attend proceedings related to a family legal case.

After completing their court appearance, they began the journey home by CNG-powered auto-rickshaw at around 1:30 pm. About half an hour later, when the vehicle reached the School Pahar section of the highway in Ramu, it was involved in the devastating head-on collision with the truck.

Witness Abdul Gafur said he was taking his children to a coaching centre when the accident unfolded before his eyes. He described hearing a loud impact before people nearby rushed to assist the victims trapped inside the mangled auto-rickshaw. Residents and passers-by worked together to rescue the injured before emergency services arrived.

The three injured passengers remain admitted to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital, where they are receiving treatment. Hospital authorities have not yet released detailed information regarding their medical condition.

The officer-in-charge of Ramu Highway Police Station, Sukanta Chakrabarty, confirmed that three people had died in the crash. He said legal proceedings had been initiated and that investigators were examining the circumstances surrounding the collision. The bodies were recovered from the scene and the necessary legal formalities are being completed.

The Cox’s Bazar–Teknaf Highway is one of the busiest road corridors in the region, carrying a steady flow of passenger vehicles, goods transport and tourist traffic. Local residents have frequently expressed concern about speeding, risky overtaking and the movement of heavy vehicles along the route, warning that such factors continue to contribute to serious road accidents.

Authorities are expected to continue their investigation to determine the exact cause of the collision and whether negligence or traffic law violations played any role. The deaths of the two sisters have cast a shadow of grief over their family and community, while renewed calls have emerged for stricter road safety enforcement to help prevent similar tragedies in the future.